Casino
blackjack
Smartgambler is pleased to
have one of Australia's most famous (and frequently
barred) blackjack experts, Andrew Scott of
BJ Masters, in our team.
Andrew writes articles for
us on beating the casinos at blackjack and answers
readers questions in our Andrew
Scott Blackjack Pages
Click
here for some interesting blackjack
brain teasers.
Blackjack overview
Blackjack has long been the skilled casino players
game of choice. The small number of decisions required,
hitting, standing, doubling and splitting (insurance
can be gainfully ignored) nevertheless produce a game
of deceptive complexity. Hoping to make the right
call on gut instinct, as most players do, is nothing
less than wishful thinking. Note that Blackjack should
not be confused with the horrible game of casino Twenty
One which punters should refuse to have anything to
do with as the percentages for the player are so disgracefully
bad.
Card counting
Highly trained and knowledgeable Blackjack players
called card counters are able to get an advantage
over the casino by keeping a rough tally of how many
high versus low cards are left in the shoe and varying
their staking and decisions accordingly. Smartgambler
recommends learning to card count for anyone serious
about casino gambling who has the persistence, discipline
and mental ability required. If you do this properly
you will play at break even or better against the
casinos and with disciplined staking it can be (and
is) done professionally.
Card counting is not
cheating, whatever light the casinos might wish to
portray it in. If detected though, the casinos will
take measures to prevent you profiting by your skill,
such as shuffling the shoe much earlier than usual
or restricting you to minimum bets. Thus, 'cover'
is an essential part of card counting and some of
the percentage edge the counter enjoys must be foregone
in the interests of concealment. There is a very interesting
piece on the experience of the card counter who runs
the Whiteknight blackjack school in our Articles
section.
There are also many good books available about card
counting and a search on the web will yield results.
Remember if buying a book though, that Blackjack rules
and variables relevant to counting vary from country
to country and casino to casino, so make sure the
book you get is relevant to the casino where you will
be playing. Our in house expert, Andrew Scott, conducts
training schools in every aspect of Blackjack including
counting and basic strategy. Andrew
Scott Blackjack Pages
Basic Strategy
If you do not wish to go to the lengths of becoming
a card counter (and card counting profitably is not
easy) you really must as a bare minimum learn what
is called basic
strategy. This can be learned easily in a
day or two, in an hour or two if you have a sharp
mind.
It simply involves memorising the 'correct' decision
for every hand you can hold against every possible
hand the dealer could hold. This is made much easier
by certain rules that always apply and by repetitive
patterns that act as mnemonics. Once you have mastered
the strategy table for
your casino provided here you are ready to
enjoy one of the best value and least boring casino
games available. Remember though, the casino still
has the edge, and you can still lose your shirt by
undisciplined staking.
A story of card counting
Broadcast 19-07-2003 on Australia's Radio National
How to Beat the Odds
Summary: When six students from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology decided to take on the Las
Vegas casinos and win at Blackjack, they cleaned up
to the tune of around $US6 million...but it couldn't
last. Ben Mezrich tells this true story in Bringing
Down the House, and it reads like a thriller.
Click
here for the ABC transcript
Home|FAQs|Disclaimer|Contact
us
©2008 Ozmium Pty Ltd. All rights reserved
